Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

Review: Dave Kozicki

A lot has changed in the years since the original Transformers rocked our world and introduced the masses to Megan Fox’s (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) midriff. After defeating the evil Megatron, mankind and the Autobots have formed an uneasy alliance known as NEST, patrolling the Earth for Decepticon infiltrators and dealing with them when necessary.

Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) is headed off to college, dealing with long distance relationships, his overbearing parents and a small fragment of the energy rich Allspark embedding generations of Autobot history into his fragile human brain. Much like the prequel, Sam possesses the secrets of boundless energy, and needs protection from an ancient and vicious new threat known as The Fallen, the original Decepticon, with cataclysmic plans to resurrect Megatron and, in doing so, destroy the human race.

Someone needs to tell Michael Bay that longer doesn’t necessarily mean better. Our main gripe with the flick is its length. It exhibits the same faults Bad Boys II did, by peaking too early, and running too long. After the heart attack inducing intensity of the first hour, capped off with an exhilarating showdown between Megatron and Optimus Prime in a woodsy setting, we were absolutely gobsmacked. It is by far some of Michael Bay’s best work.

The production values are off the charts. It’s clear he’s learned his lesson, now pulling the camera back, framing the shots exquisitely so that each morsel of every fight can be readily digested. However, after the carnage of the droid death match in the forest, there’s a distinct lull as it tries to pick up momentum lost by a premature climax, and never really gets it back.

Local soapie starlet Isabel Lucas has a small role with a twist, and it almost feels like Michael Bay’s throwing Aussie audiences a bone for excluding Rachael Taylor’s Maggie from proceedings. In fact, the film suffers from the loss of the Anthony Anderson/Rachael Taylor dynamic, which provided some brilliant comic relief in the original. This has been replaced with two Tweedledum and Tweedledee “street” Autobots, Mudflap and Skids, sounding more like B-grade rappers, who bitch and moan, engage in some slap-happy shenanigans, and their entire repertoire feels forced and entirely unnecessary.

Fan favourite’s Soundwave and Jetfire get a look in, with Soundwave rebooted as a satellite a nice touch, and Decepticon defector Jetfire providing a few chuckles, with John Turturro (Do the Right Thing, The Big Lebowski) picking up the vocal assist, as well as his less than glamorous return as ex-Sector 7 Agent Simmons.

As far as popcorn cinema goes, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen follows the sequel formula to the letter. It’s bigger and brasher, the special effects and Megan Fox’s hotpants are mind-blowing enough to distract from the uneven pacing and excessive length. Cutting around 40 minutes of filler would have made this an action film worth a looksee as opposed to an adequate enough sequel.